Since Theresa May backlash and criticism from Conservative MPs and most of the opposition parties. And, now Education Secretary Justin Greening has confirmed the plans have been scrapped after it was excluded from the Queen’s speech last week. “There was no education bill in the Queen’s Speech, and therefore the ban on opening new grammar schools will remain in place” concluded Ms Greening.
Labour’s Shadow Education Secretary Angela Rayner condemned the £500 million plan as a “vanity project” and said there was “no evidence it will help children move on from socially deprived background.” With such high opposition it would have been difficult to pass legislation to introduce them. The original plan was put in by the Labour government in 1997 when Tony Blair was Prime Minister.
Justine Greening confirms the ban on grammar schools will remain. The Queen’s speech stated the government will “look at all options for opening new schools and would continue to work to ensure that every child has the opportunity to attend a good school and that all schools are fairly funded." She concluded the government would publish a Green Paper on Children and Young People’s Mental Health "focused on helping our youngest and most vulnerable members of society receive the best start in life." The notes said: "This will make sure best practice is being used consistently and will help to accelerate improvements across all services so that children and young people get the right mix of prevention and specialist support." The bill also omitted the plans to scrap universal free school lunches for primary school children, meaning no new major changes will be put forward for education within the next two years. This takes away the biggest source of extra funding promised for schools in the Conservative manifesto.
A spokesperson for the Department for Education said that the Queen's Speech was an unambiguous decision not to go ahead with creating more grammar schools.
- No new grammar schools
- Plans dropped to stop free lunches for all infants
- No legislation announced for education
- School funding plans to be put forward at a later date
- Changes to how individual school budgets are allocated will go ahead
- Technical education to be upgraded
Dr Mary Bousted, general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) said the Queen’s Speech was a “missed opportunity” for the Government. “An investment in education now is an investment in our future, post-Brexit. There is no suggestion that the Government will properly fund the major overhaul to technical education promised in today’s Queen’s Speech.” “After seven years of brutal cuts, further education colleges have been forced to make wave after wave of redundancies, and a serious recruitment and retention crisis has been exacerbated by excessive workloads and real term pay cuts.” “These issues need to be addressed if the Government’s reforms are to have any chance of delivering the skilled workforce needed for a post-Brexit economy.”
Responding to the Queen’s speech, Kevin Courtney, General Secretary of the National Union of Teachers (NUT), said the Government had made a “grave mistake” in not addressing the school funding crisis. “[Grammar schools] are an unnecessary and unwanted distraction,” he said. “It is now time that Theresa May turns her attention to the real and pressing issue of school funding.” “This was a major issue in the General Election. Schools are not crying wolf, there literally is not enough money for head teachers to run their schools properly.” School spending plans outlined in the Conservative manifesto last month indicated a cut of 7 per cent per pupil, the IFS calculated. Teaching union heads have called for an immediate five per cent increase in funding for “cash starved” schools, college and early years providers, as many providers face having to cut staff due to shortages.
The government says it will bring forward its proposals on school funding at a later date.
